Embedded Files
Peter Dickinson
This is the sequel to The Weathermonger but is a very different book. The Weathermonger balances two worlds, one the present day and the other a world reverted to a medieval society. This still has that tension but features not two worlds but one, a complicated community where antipathy to machines is not evenly spread and family and old loyalties play out in how the Changes manifest.
While I loved the twist in The Weathermonger I think this is a stronger book. It made me really appreciate the cleverness of a world which explore how a minority exists and resists in society while making that minority (those who still believe in technology) a group that all readers will see themselves as part of. This is one of the ways that fantasy settings can allow us to see our modern preoccupations through lens shorn of our biases and assumptions.
One of the strongest parts of the book is the way it shows how prejudice is used by the strong and the greedy to reinforce their position and status. It also shows how powerful groups in society are able to take advantage of and benefit from change while others are reduced to fearful drudgery. It also shows how those with less of a voice in society are more likely to be able to challenge its assumptions and prejudices. If you are opressed by society then you are more able to see problems with it. This is highlighted in the maid-servant Lucy's description of remembering while mired in hard domestic work the convenience of modern amenities and beginning to question the hatred for them that had taken over society.
I like the community of the central characters. Tim, with his solid stubborn caring, seen as zany by others, marginalised and doubted by society. Lucy, his sister, a slighlty slapdash maid (perhaps an act of quiet rebellion, refusing to care and do a dull job beyond the minimum required) but a brilliant and supportive sister. I love the way that she is dismissed from consideration by her role but is enterprising and resourceful in all sorts of ways. Jonathan is great too, a bit of a mystery in some ways, the book hints at some kind of deformity but, as it is from the point of view of his sister who doesn't particularly notice his difference, this is never explored. He is clever and strategic, noticing problems that might arise. He sometimes gets stuck when the problems presented are social though, his intelligence is systematic and technical. Margaret is the point of view character and is more on the edge of worlds than any of the others. She is less able to escape the distaste for machines, her love of animals perhaps means that it finds an easy home. She is not caught up in the wider madness though and is disgusted by the violence and posturing of the men in the village. This facility for animals, in particular horses is crucial throughout the story and highlights the need for nature and machines in sympathy with each other. The problem with the Changes is not one that can be solved purely by bringing back machines, a finer balance is needed. Aunt Anne and Uncle Peter are also interesting characters, more caught up in the social madness of the Changes, less free but still individuals, not effected in a uniform way or with absolute surety.
This is one of the things I prefered about this book to The Weathermonger, people were people - not merely simulacra under malign influence. The adventure is captivating and the challenge of fitting it around the tasks of everyday life makes it feel much more real. Some of the challenges of activism come up there, Margaret is less able to do things than Jonathan as she has to take on more household tasks to support Aunt Anne. Those most effected by societies depradations are often less free to challenge them.
It isn't just a high minded tale of battling prejudice though, it is children doing what in its humanity needs to be done. They can't leave a man to die and the rest flows from that. It is a story of the heroism of ordinary people. Margaret's fear in the face of the bull and her and Jonathan's attempts to protect each other are warming to see.
A little of the language is dated, early in the book, before getting to know her, Margaret refers to Lucy as a slut. She doesn't mean it in the modern sense and it is something that might throw a child reading it. This book (unlike the first) has interior illustration, perhaps a mark of the success of the first in the series.
I really like the illustrations, particularly ones that show Margaret riding and those of habitation manage to give a slightly wild and desolate air.
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